What’s better than a wonderful cruise vacation?  A wonderful cruise vacation that’s FREE, of course!
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and USA Today newspaper have launched the Reporter at Sea contest, looking for a talented citizen journalist (blogger?) to cover the pre-inaugural voyage of the Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world.
Oasis of the Sea has 16 decks and can carry 5,400 guests in 2,700 staterooms.  It’s themed around a neighborhood concept, with specific themed areas:  Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Center, and Entertainment Place.
Starting today, …read more

We have a winner in the contest for the Las Vegas getaway!
Our winner is Gayle J, who left this comment:
I have been to Las Vegas twice and still haven’t seen everything. I want to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and want to see the Blue Man group and of course gamble. Thanks.
Congratulations,Gayle.  Now you can go back and see a few more things.  I’m sending you an email to get your personal information so that I can have your prize sent out to you.
A very big thank you to all the readers here at Flyaway Cafe who entered the …read more

Many of you followed along on my recent trip to Las Vegas, and my quest to find some G-Rated activities.
Here are the top things that I found:

Spent a day at the pool at Mandalay Bay.  Renting a cabana, and have a place to get out of the sun occasionally, made a 100+ degree day at the pool bearable.
Watched the volcano erupt at the Mirage.
Saw Disney’s The Lion King at Mandalay Bay.
Dinner & a show at the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur.

I’ll be writing about my experience, and providing some reviews and recommendations about them soon, but I wanted everyone …read more

Ah, vacation!  It conjures up all sorts of wonderful day dreams, grabs our attention and “forces” us to spend countless hours doing “research” on the internet at great travel blogs like Flyaway Cafe.    We pick up guidebooks, go to the library, we talk to friends.  Sometimes the planning is a great deal of the fun in arranging vacation plans.  Still, do you always find yourself going to the same old places and doing the same old thing?!
Maybe what you need to do to get out of your rut is to look at vacation through a different lens, and …read more

The Enchanted April DVD will be winging its way out to Karen (who blogs at Thrifty Mommy) with her comment:
 
I have never been out of the US, so I’m sure any place in Italy would be great!

 
After watching this movie, you’ll be dying to go to Italy, I’m sure.  And yes, Italy is GREAT 
There are all sorts of thrifty ways to save up for travel, as well as ways to manage expenses while on the road.  So maybe we’ll be seeing some of those kinds of tips from Karen. 
I hope you enjoy the movie, Karen.  I know …read more

This weekend Santa Anita Race Track will host the the Superbowl of horse racing with the 2008 Breeders’ Cup.
The Breeders’ Cup was started in 1982 as a year end event to honor the premiere horses in the sport.  Originally billed as the richest day in sports, Day 2 of the Breeders’ has now become the second richest day is sports (eclipsed by the Dubai World Cu[ Night) with a total of $25.5 million in purses being awarded over the two days.
I stopped by the sports book here at the Palazzo in Las Vegas and placed a little wager on …read more

I’ve been having lots of fun of fun playing with the new collage option of Picnik. 
Of course, I wanted to share my “masterpiece” with you.  These photos are from the Rodin Museum in Paris, and show a part of the museum and its grounds, as well as a few of Rodin’s marvelous sculptures.

Picnik is a web-based photo editing program that is easy to use and fun.  While it may not do the heavy lifting of some of the other photo editing programs, it’s easy to learn, is compatible with many online photo storage programs, and will occupy you …read more